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DEPOSIT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICTDISTRICT WIDE SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

2020 - 2021

Annual public hearing date: 7/13/2020

2020-2021 date approved by BOE: 7/13/2020

Annual public hearing date: 7/9/2019

2019-2020 date approved by BOE: 9/12/2019

Original public hearing date:9/9/2002

Original date approved by BOE:10/15/2002

DEPOSIT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICTDISTRICT-WIDE SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

INTRODUCTION

Emergencies and violent incidents in school districts are critical issues that must be addressed in an expeditious and effective manner. Districts are required to develop a district-wide school safety plan designed to prevent or minimize the effects of serious violent incidents and emergencies and to facilitate the coordination of the district with local and county resources in the event of such incidents or emergencies. The district-wide plan is responsive to the needs of all schools within the district and is consistent with the more detailed emergency response plans required at the school building level. Districts stand at risk from a wide variety of acts of violence, natural, and manmade disasters. To address these threats, the State of New York has enacted the Safety Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) law. Project SAVE is a comprehensive planning effort that addresses prevention, response, and recovery with respect to a variety of emergencies in each school district and its schools.

The Deposit Central School District ("District") supports the SAVE Legislation, and intends to facilitate the planning process. The Superintendent of Schools encourages and advocates on-going district-wide cooperation and support of Project SAVE.

PROJECT SAVE(Safe Schools Against Violence in Education)

DISTRICT-WIDESCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17

TABLE OF CONTENTSSECTION 1: GENERAL CONSIDERATION AND PLANNING GUIDELINES

Purpose Page 1Chief Emergency Officer Page 1Chain of Command Page 1District Wide School Safety Team Page 1Emergency Response Contacts Page 2District Wide School Safety Plan Review and Public Comment Page 2

SECTION II: GENERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING

Identification of sites of potential emergencies Page 2Actions in response to an emergency District resources and personnel available during emergency Page 3Procedures to coordinate the use of school district resources Page 3Annual multi-hazard school training for staff and students Page 3Staff Development Page 3

SECTION III: RESPONDING TO THREATS AND ACTS OF VIOLENCE

Policies and procedures for violent incidents Page 3Policies and procedures for contact law enforcement Page 3Appropriate responses to agencies Page 4Policies and procedures for contacting parents Page 4

SECTION IV: COMMUNICATION WITH OTHERS

Obtaining assistance from emergency services and government Page 4System for informing all educational agencies within school

district of emergency Page 4Building Level Plan information Page 4

SECTION V: PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES

Policies and procedures related to School Security Page 5Policies and procedures for the dissemination of information Page 5Prevention and intervention strategies Page 5Strategies for improving communication and reporting violent

Incidents Page 5Hall monitors and other school safety staff Page 5

Appendices Student Intervention Strategies Appendix 1Hazard Identification Appendix 2Regulations Appendix 3

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SECTION I: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND PLANNING GUIDELINES1. Purpose

The Deposit Central School District-wide School Safety Plan was developed pursuant to Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17. At the direction of the Deposit Central SchoolDistrict Board of Education, the Superintendent appointed a District-wide School Safety Team and charged it with the development and maintenance of the District-wide School Safety Plan.

The Superintendent is the Chief Emergency Officer for the Deposit School District.

Incident Command will be utilized in the event of an emergency.

Incident Command Structure Telephone Number

Superintendent 467- 5380Principals:High SchoolMiddle SchoolElementary

467-8509467-8512467-8508

Director of Facilities and Operations 467-1579

B.District Wide School Safety Team and Building Level School Safety Teams

The District has created a District-wide School Safety Team including the following positions:

PositionBoard Of Education Representative

Administration RepresentativeTeacher Representative

Parent Organization RepresentativeStudent RepresentativeSchool Safety PersonnelOther School Personnel

Police OrganizationsFire Company

EMS

The Deposit Central High School and the Deposit Elementary School have Building Level School Safety Teams to deal with building related incidents. The specific building level information is found in the Building Level Safety Plans and is summarized in the building level summaries as per the SAVE legislation.

C.Emergency Response Contacts

The District-wide School Safety Plan shall be directly linked to the individual Building-level Emergency Response Plans for each school building. This District-wide School Safety Plan will guide the development and implementation of individual Building-level Emergency Response plan.

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D.Plan Review and Public Comment

This plan shall be reviewed and maintained by the District-wide School Safety Team and reviewed on an annual basis on or before July 1st of each year.

Pursuant to Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17 (e)(3), this plan will be made available for public comment 30 days prior to its adoption. The district-wide and building-level plans may be adopted by the School Board only after at least one public hearing that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students and any other interested parties. The plan must be formally adopted by the Board of Education. Information on the public comment period for the District Wide School Safety Plan is filed in the Superintendent’s Office by September 1 each year. October 15, 2002 the Deposit Central School District Board of Education initially adopted the District Wide School Safety Plan.

While linked to the District-wide School Safety Plan, Building level Emergency Response Plans shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under Article 6 of the Public Officers Law or any other provision of law, in accordance with Education Law Section 2801-a.

SECTION II General Emergency Response Planning

A. Identification of sites of potential emergency

The District has established procedures for the identification of potential sites and the internal and/or external hazards that may be present in them. See Appendix 2

B.Actions in response to an emergency.

The District has identified the following general response actions to emergency situations. These actions include school cancellation, early dismissal, evacuation, and sheltering. The Building level Emergency Response Plans include identification of specific procedures for each action depending upon the emergency.

Emergencies include, but are not limited to:Threats of ViolenceWeather Emergencies Medical Emergencies Technological Emergencies Pandemic Suicide

C.District Resources and Personnel Available for Use during and Emergency The District has committed the full inventory of its resources to be available for use during an emergency. These resources will be utilized in line with the Building Level Emergency Response Plans as deemed appropriate by the Incident Command Team.Specifics are identified in the Building Level Plans..

D. Procedures to coordinate the use of school district resources during emergenciesThe District uses the Incident Command System model for emergency actions. The Incident Commander is authorized by the Deposit Central School District and Board of Education to activate such resources and personnel as are appropriate to the incident. The Incident Commander is empowered to render such decisions as may be necessary in keeping with the response actions as identified in the Building Level Emergency Response Plan. Building-level Incident Command staff are identified in the Building Level Emergency Response Plans.

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Annual multi-hazard school training for staff and students.

The District will conduct annual training for both staff and students in school safety issues. Training will be coordinated by the Principals and may consist of classroom activities, general assemblies, tabletop exercises, full-scale drills of other appropriate actions to increase the awareness and preparedness of staff and students.

Drills and other exercises will be coordinated with local, county and state emergency responders and preparedness officials. Existing plans will be revised in response to post-incident critiques of these drills.

E.Staff developmentStaff receive annual training on various facets of violence prevention, mental health and response to emergencies by September 15th of each school year. The District must certify by October via BEDs each year on the annual training.

Staff training for new hires shall receive training within 30 days of hire or as part of the district’s new hire training program whichever is sooner.

SECTION III: RESPONDING TO THREATS AND ACTS OF VIOLENCEA. Policies and procedures for responding to implied, or direct threats of violence or acts of violence by

students, teachers, other school personnel and visitors to the schoolThe District has enacted policies and procedures dealing with violence. These policies and procedures deal with the safety of the school community as well as the range of discipline of those making the threat or committing the act of violence. The District Code of Conduct has developed and implemented a Code of Conduct as required by the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA).

Policies and procedures for contacting appropriate law enforcement officials in the event of a violent incidentLaw enforcement officials will be contacted by the Incident Commander, and will be requested based upon the "closest response agency" concept to ensure that the response to the incident is as rapid as possible.

B. Appropriate responses to emergencies.The District recognizes that appropriate response to emergencies varies greatly depending upon the actual threat or act as well as the magnitude of such emergency. Specific Emergency Responses will be outlined in the Building Level Plans.

C. Policies and procedures to contact parents, guardians or persons in parental relation to the students in the event of a violent incident, including suicide or an early dismissalThe District will contact parents, guardians or persons in parental relation to the student via media release of local television and radio stations, Parent Teacher telephone tree contact or other appropriate means in the event of a violent incident or early dismissal. The Deposit Central School District sends a parental notification form for the annual early dismissal drill and evacuation drill to the parent or those in parental relation. Conditions requiring such notification are outlined in the Building Level Emergency Response Plans.

In the event of an individual or group student suicide or other violent incident at school regarding an individual student, the Principal or his or her representative or police or police representative would contact the parents, guardians or persons in parental relation to the student directly either via phone call and/or home visit.

D. Zero Tolerance The district will review cases of implied or direct threats of violence on a case by case basis and will not use zero tolerance policies for student disciplines.

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SECTION IV: COMMUNICATION WITH OTHERS

A. Obtaining assistance during emergencies from emergency services organizations and local government agencies.

The Incident Commander has authority to contact and obtain the services needed from various emergency agencies. Procedures for contacting police during a violent incident permits any staff member to contact police via school phone system using 9-911 or use phone system 5069 to contact administration for emergencies.

B. Procedures for obtaining advice and assistance from local government officials including the county or city officials responsible for implementation of Article 2-B of the Executive Law

The Incident Commander has authority to contact and obtain the services of these agencies.

C. A system for informing all educational agencies within a school district of a disaster

The District will notify any appropriate educational agencies within its boundaries as well as adjacent to its boundaries in the case of a disaster that would affect any of these agencies. The Incident Commander will determine the extent of notification and delegate its delivery.

D. In case of a school district, maintaining certain information about each educational agency located in the school district, including information on:

Each Building Level Emergency Response Plan will include information regarding each individual school.

E. Building Access during emergencies by Police AgenciesLocal and State Police have been issued building access using the school fobs which work 24/7 for the police agencies, or if necessary force will be used to gain access in the event of emergencies.

SECTION V: PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES

1. Policies and procedures related to school building security, including, where applicable, the use of school safety officers and or/security devices or procedures.

2. Policies and procedures for the dissemination of informative materials.

The District is committed to the use of the interpersonal violence prevention education package for grades kindergarten through twelve, when available.

3. Prevention and intervention strategies.The District continues to develop and investigate various strategies regarding violence prevention and intervention. These strategies include, but are not limited to: Case by case basis contact with state and local law enforcement officials designed to ensure that school

Safety Committee members and other school personnel are adequately trained including being trained to de-escalate potentially violent situations,

School safety programs for students: on multi-cultural/diversity situations over a three year cycle, character education for grades K-6, conflict resolution K-5, anti-violence workshops periodically at the High School

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D.Strategies for improving communication among students and between students and staff and reporting of potentially violent incidents.

The District recognizes that communication is a vital key in the prevention and intervention of violence in schools. To that end, the District is exploring programs in the following areas: Creating a forum or designating a mentor for students concerned with bullying or violence, Others based on district need

E.Description of duties, hiring and screening process, and required training of hall monitors and other school safety personnel.

All staff will monitor visitors or others in the building, directing anyone without a visitor or staff badge to the main office for sign in or reporting such persons to the main office.

Main Office staff at each building have access to a secure entry way and camera that the visitor can be viewed and talked to and questioned about their reason for visiting. All doors to the building are locked. The main office person can allow the door to open if the purpose for the visit is legitimately verified with the person being visited or if a student needs to be picked up for an appointment, etc. Visitors are then signed in and given a badge and then the badge is returned and the visitor signed out at the end of the visit

F.Anonymous Reporting

Deposit Central Schools uses the Quick Tip app as the anonymous reporting mechanism for the district.The app can direct the “tip” to a specific building in order to have quicker resolution.

G.School Resource Officer (SRO)

The training of the School Resource Officer will be fairly recruited and provided adequate training. Currently the district does not have an SRO but the Deposit Elementary School has the NYS Police participate in Character Education and and NYS Police participated in career day.

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Appendix 1:Strategies for student intervention:

Elementary School

1. Peer Mediation: Every year, students are trained in peer mediation. A training was given to third graders this year on issues such as active listening, problem solving, perceptions and how to help peers. Two peer mediators are chosen per day and listen to problems during the 4th grade lunch time. A form is filled out by a student or teachers about the problem. The mediators do not deal with weapons problems, problems at home, or threats of violence or issues involving violence such as fist fights, etc.

2. Daily social skills involving self-esteem, anger management, friendship skills and coping skills are stressed via:

a. Monthly newsletters to all parentsb. Specific memos home to parentsc. Student code of conduct given to parents and studentsd. Phone calls to parentse. Social skills groups for students

3. A classroom guidance unit on social skills was given at Elementary School for for kindergarten through second grade.

4. Word of the month is used at Elementary School. The word of the month is given during announcements, kindergarten through third grade has a monthly activity which the school counselor coordinates, and teachers “catch” students acting in the way of the word of the month, i.e. with respect, responsibility, etc. and fill out a card with the incident. This incident exemplifying the word of the month is also read on the announcements.

5. The Bridges room is used as a “rest stop” for students having a problem in class. They enter for a rest break by either having a pass given to them by a teacher to go the Bridges room, being sent by the teacher, or asking to go. This gives the student a chance to break the problem behavior from the classroom setting and return to class with a refreshed attitude.

6. Skills Groups are used at Elementary School. Team teachers decided upon a student from their class that may need assistance with a particular skill. The students then attend a class at Bridges for six weeks and learn about this social skill. Students can participate more than once for different skills as chosen by their teacher.

Appendix 1:Strategies for student intervention:

Intervention Strategies for Students Deposit Middle / High School

Safety Plan

Drug Free/Weapon Free/Tobacco Free School Zone Student Recognition Assemblies Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Peer Tutoring Positive Postcards/Lumberjack Leader Response to Intervention (RtI) Teams Rock on Café Special Assemblies/Pep Rallies Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Student Leadership Teams (Student Council) Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Lunch Groups Mediations and Peer Mediations New Student Mentors Senior Mentors Team Building Activities Incentive Programs Healthy Relationship Education Lourdes Student Assistance Program Afterschool Enrichment Programs Community Service

Appendix 2:Building Risk Determination

POTENTIAL SITE ADDRESS HAZARDRoute 17/86 North of School Building Transportation

Accident/Hazardous Spill or Gas Release

Cannonsville Dam South of School Buildings Failure of dam could release catastrophic amount of water

NYSEG Gas Building On School CampusHigh Tension Lines Transportation / FireIndustry South of School Buildings Air Pollution/Chemical

ReleaseChemistry Lab (Internal Hazard) - 2nd

FloorChemical Release or Fire

Pool Chemical Liquid Bulk Storage

(Internal Hazard) - NE Corner /Outside Building High School

Chemical Release or Fire

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (formerly Conrail) rents NY Susquehanna & Western Railway

South of School Building Train Accident - Release of Chemical or Poisonous Gas

Weather Hazards # Hazard Chance for Occurrence 1 Extreme Heat above 95 degrees F – difficulty

keeping people cool Usually July through September several different times per year

2 Droughts Rare 3 Earthquakes Low 4 Brush Fires Low 5 Thunderstorms Medium 6 Winter Storms/Blizzards Medium 7 Hurricane Winds Low8 Flooding due Hurricanes Medium 9 Tornadoes Low

Appendix 3:

§ 155.17 School safety plans.(a) Development of school emergency management plans. Each board of education of a school district, other than a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, and each board of cooperative educational services shall prepare by October 1, 1990, and shall update by October 1st of each succeeding school year, a school emergency management plan as prescribed in this section to insure the safety and health of children and staff and to insure integration and coordination with similar emergency planning at the municipal, county and State levels, which plan, and any amendments thereto, shall remain in effect until the adoption of a comprehensive multi-hazard, district-wide school safety plan and building-level school plans pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (e) of this section, at which time it shall be superseded by such plans. A copy of the plan shall be available in each school district for inspection by the public and shall be made available to the commissioner upon request.

(b) Development of school safety plans. Every board of education of a school district, every board of cooperative educational services and county vocational education and extension board and the chancellor of the City School District of the City of New York shall adopt by July 1, 2001, and shall update by July 1st of each succeeding year, a district-wide school safety plan and building-level school safety plans regarding crisis intervention and emergency response and management, provided that in the City School District of the City of New York, such plans shall be adopted by the chancellor of the city school district. Such plans shall be developed by a district-wide school safety team and a building-level school safety team, as such terms are defined in subdivision (c) of this section, and shall be in a form developed by the commissioner in consultation with the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the superintendent of the State Police and any other appropriate State agencies. A school district having only one school building shall develop a single building-level school safety plan, which shall also fulfill all requirements for development of a district-wide plan to insure the safety and health of children and staff and to insure integration and coordination with similar emergency planning at the municipal, county and State levels. Each plan shall be reviewed by the appropriate school safety team on at least an annual basis, and updated as needed.

(c) Definitions. As used in this section:(1) Educational agencies means public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, public and private nursery schools, approved private schools for the education of students with disabilities as defined in section 200.1(d) of this Title, and public and private schools for the education of preschool children with disabilities.(2) Superintendent means a superintendent of schools or a district superintendent of schools, as appropriate.

(3) Disaster means occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural or manmade causes, such as fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, high water, landslide, mudslide, windstorm, wave action, epidemic, air contamination, drought, explosion, water contamination, chemical accident, war or civil disturbance.(4) Emergency means a situation, including but not limited to a disaster, that requires immediate action, occurs unpredictably, and poses a threat of injury or loss of life to students or school personnel or of severe damage to school property.

(5) Emergency services organization means a public or private agency, organization or group other than a governmental agency, which provides police, fire, medical, ambulance, rescue, housing or other services for the relief of human suffering, injury or loss of life or property as a result of an emergency.(6) School cancellation means a determination by school officials that a school or schools should not be in session for one or more school days due to an emergency.(7) Early dismissal means returning students to their homes or other appropriate locations before the end of the

Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17

school day.

Appendix 3 – Commissioner’s Regulations 155.17 Continued

(8) Evacuation means moving students for their protection from a school building to a predetermined location in response to an emergency.(9) Sheltering means keeping students in school buildings and providing them with shelter when it is deemed safer for students to remain inside rather than to return home or be evacuated.(10) Building-level school safety plan means a building-specific school emergency response plan that addresses crisis intervention, emergency response and management at the building level and has the contents prescribed in paragraph (e)(2) of this section.(11) Building-level school safety team means a building-specific team appointed by the building principal, in accordance with regulations or guidelines prescribed by the board of education, the chancellor in the case of New York City, or other governing body. The building- level team shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of teacher, administrator, and parent organizations, school safety personnel, other school personnel, community members, local law enforcement officials, local ambulance or other emergency response agencies, and any other representatives the school board, chancellor or other governing body deems appropriate.(12) District-wide school safety plan means a comprehensive, multi-hazard school safety plan that covers all school buildings of the school district, BOCES or county vocational education and extension board, that addresses crisis intervention, emergency response and management at the district level and has the contents prescribed in paragraph (e)(1) of this section.(13) District-wide school safety team means a district-wide team appointed by the board of education, the chancellor in the case of New York City, or other governing board. The district- wide team shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the school board, student, teacher, administrator, and parent organizations, school safety personnel and other school personnel.(14) Emergency response team means a building-specific team designated by the building- level school safety team that includes appropriate school personnel, local law enforcement officials, and representatives from local, regional and/or State emergency response agencies and assists the school community in responding to a serious violent incident or emergency. In a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, such emergency response team may be created on the district-level with building-level participation, and such district shall not be required to establish a unique team for each of its schools.(15) Post-incident response team means a building-specific team designated by the building-level school safety team that includes appropriate school personnel, medical personnel, mental health counselors and others who can assist the school community in coping with the aftermath of a serious violent incident or emergency. In a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, such post-incident response team may be created on the district-level with building-level participation, and such district shall not be required to establish a unique team for each of its schools.

(16) School safety plan means a district-wide school safety plan or a building-level school safety plan.

(17) Serious violent incident means an incident of violent criminal conduct that is, or appears to be, life threatening and warrants the evacuation of students and/or staff because of an imminent threat to their safety or health, including, but not limited to: riot, hostage-taking kidnapping and/or the use or threatened use of a firearm, explosive, bomb, incendiary device, chemical or biological weapon, knife or other dangerous instrument capable of causing death or serious injury.(d) School emergency management plans. A school emergency management plan shall be designed to prevent or minimize the effects of emergencies and to coordinate the use of resources, and shall include, but not be limited to:(1) the identification of sites of potential emergency;(2) the identification of appropriate responses to emergencies;(3) a description of the arrangements for obtaining assistance during emergencies from emergency services organizations and local governmental agencies;(4) a description of procedures to coordinate the use of school district resources and manpower during emergencies, including identification of the officials authorized to make decisions and of the staff members assigned to provide assistance during emergencies;

(5) the identification of district resources which may be available for use during an emergency;(6) in the case of a school district, a system for informing all educational agencies within such school district of


an emergency;(7) a description of plans for taking the following actions in response to an emergency where appropriate:(i) school cancellation;(ii) early dismissal;(iii) evacuation;(iv) sheltering; and(8) in the case of a school district, certain information about each educational agency located in the school district, including information on school population, number of staff, transportation needs and the business and home telephone numbers of key officials of each such agency; and(9) the procedures for obtaining advice and assistance from local government officials, including the county or city officials responsible for implementation of article 2-B of the Executive Law.

(e) School safety plans. District-wide school safety plans and building-level school safety plans shall be designed to prevent or minimize the effects of serious violent incidents and emergencies and to facilitate the coordination of schools and school districts with local and county resources in the event of such incidents or emergencies.(1) District-wide school safety plans. A district-wide school safety plan shall be developed by the district-wide school safety team and shall include, but not be limited to:(i) the identification of sites of potential emergency;(ii) except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, a description of plans for taking the following actions in response to an emergency where appropriate:

(a) school cancellation;(b) early dismissal;(c) evacuation;(d) sheltering;(iii) policies and procedures for responding to implied or direct threats of violence by students, teachers, other school personnel and visitors to the school;(iv) policies and procedures for responding to acts of violence by students, teachers, other

school personnel and visitors to the school, including consideration of zero-tolerance policies for school violence;(v) appropriate prevention and intervention strategies, such as:(a) collaborative arrangements with State and local law enforcement officials, designed to ensure that school safety officers and other security personnel are adequately trained, including being trained to de-escalate potentially violent situations, and are effectively and fairly recruited;(b) nonviolent conflict resolution training programs;(c) peer mediation programs and youth courts; and(d) extended day and other school safety programs;(vi) policies and procedures for contacting appropriate law enforcement officials in the event of a violent incident;(vii) except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, a description of the arrangements for obtaining assistance during emergencies from emergency services organizations

(b) and local governmental agencies;

(c) (viii) except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, the procedures for obtaining advice and assistance from local government officials, including the county or city officials responsible for implementation of article 2-B of the Executive Law;(ix) except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, the identification of district resources which may be available for use during an emergency;

(x) except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, a de-scription of procedures to coordinate the use of school district resources and manpower during emergencies, including identification of the officials authorized to make decisions and of the staff


members assigned to provide assistance during emergencies;(xi) policies and procedures for contacting parents, guardians or persons in parental relation to the students of the district in the event of a violent incident or an early dismissal;(xii) policies and procedures relating to school building security, including, where appropriate, the use of school safety officers and/or security devices or procedures;(xiii) policies and procedures for the dissemination of informative materials regarding the early de-tection of potentially violent behaviors, including but not limited to the identification of family, com-munity and environmental factors to teachers, administrators, parents and other persons in parental relation to students of the school district or board, students and other persons deemed ap-propriate to receive such information;(xiv) policies and procedures for annual multi-hazard school safety training for staff and students;(xv) procedures for review and the conduct of drills and other exercises to test components of the emergency response plan, including the use of tabletop exercises, in coordination with local and county emergency responders and preparedness officials;

(xvi) the identification of appropriate responses to emergencies, including protocols for responding to bomb threats, hostage-takings, intrusions and kidnappings;(xvii) strategies for improving communication among students and between students and staff and reporting of potentially violent incidents, such as the establishment of youth- run programs, peer mediation, conflict resolution, creating a forum or designating a mentor for students concerned with bullying or violence and establishing anonymous reporting mechanisms for school violence;(xviii) a description of the duties of hall monitors and any other school safety personnel, the training required of all personnel acting in a school security capacity, and the hiring and screening process for all personnel acting in a school security capacity;(xix) in the case of a school district, except in a school district in a city having more than one million inhabitants, a system for informing all educational agencies within such school district of a disaster; and(xx) in the case of a school district, except in a school district in a city having more than one million inhabitants, certain information about each educational agency located in the school district, including information on school population, number of staff, transportation needs and the business and home telephone numbers of key officials of each such agency.(2) School emergency response plan. A school emergency response plan shall be developed by the building-level school safety team and shall include the following elements:(i) policies and procedures for the safe evacuation of students, teachers, other school personnel and visitors to the school in the event of a serious violent incident or other emergency which may occur before, during or after school hours, which shall include evacuation routes and shelter sites and procedures for addressing medical needs, transportation and emergency notification to persons in parental relation to a student;(ii) designation of an emergency response team, other appropriate incident response teams, and a post-incident response team;(iii) procedures for assuring that crisis response, fire and law enforcement officials have access to floor plans, blueprints, schematics or other maps of the school interior, school grounds and road maps of the immediate surrounding area;(iv) establishment of internal and external communication systems in emergencies;(v) definition of the chain of command in a manner consistent with the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS);(vi) coordination of the school safety plan with the statewide plan for disaster mental health services to assure that the school has access to Federal, State and local mental health resources in the event of a violent incident;(vii) procedures for an annual review and the conduct of drills and other exercises to test components of the emergency response plan, including the use of tabletop exercises, in coordination with local and county emergency responders and preparedness officials; and

(viii) policies and procedures for securing and restricting access to the crime scene


in order to preserve evidence in cases of violent crime on school property

(3) Each board of education, chancellor or other governing body shall make each district- wide and building-level school safety plan available for public comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption, provided that only a summary of each building-level emergency response plan shall be made available for public comment. Such district-wide and building-level plans may be adopted by the school board only after at least one public hearing that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students and any other interested parties. Each district shall file a copy of its district-wide comprehensive safety plan with the commissioner and all amendments to such plan shall be filed with the commissioner no later than 30 days after their adoption. A copy of each building-level safety plan and any amendments thereto, shall be filed with the appropriate local law enforcement agency and with the State Police within 30 days of its adoption. Building-level emergency response plans shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under article six of the Public Officers Law or any other provision of law.

(4) The commissioner may grant a waiver of the requirements of Education Law section 2801-a , this subdivision and subdivision (b) of this section to any school district or board of cooperative services or county vocational education and extension board for a period of up to two years from July 24, 2000 upon a finding by the commissioner that such district had adopted a comprehensive school safety plan on or before November 1, 2000 which is in substantial compliance with the requirements of Education Law section 2801-a.

(f) Use of school property. Each board of education and board of cooperative educational services shall cooperate with appropriate State, county and city agencies in developing agreements for the use of school-owned facilities and vehicles during a disaster. School districts and boards of cooperative educational services are required to relinquish to the appropriate State or county agencies the control and use of school transportation vehicles and facilities in accordance with county emergency preparedness plans or directives.

(g) Communication liaisons.(1) Except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, each district superintendent, during a local or State emergency, shall act as the chief communication liaison for all educational agencies within the supervisory district territorial limits.(2) The superintendent of schools in the Cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, during a local or State emergency, shall act as the chief communication liaison for all educational agencies located within the city district.

h) Reporting. Each superintendent shall notify the commissioner as soon as possible whenever the emergency plan or building-level school safety plan is activated and results in the closing of a school building in the district, and shall provide such information as the commissioner may require. School districts within a supervisory district shall provide such notification through the district superintendent, who shall be responsible for notifying the commissioner. Such information need not be provided for routine snow emergency days.

(i) Instruction. Each public school superintendent and each chief school administrator of an educational agency other than a public school shall take action

to provide written information, by October 1st of each school year, to all students and staff about emergency procedures.(j) Drills. Each school district and board of cooperative educational services shall, at least once every school year, and where possible in cooperation with local county emergency preparedness plan officials, conduct one test of its emergency plan or its emergency response procedures under each of its building-level school safety plans, including sheltering or early dismissal, at a time not to occur more than 15 minutes earlier than the normal

Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17

dismissal time.(1) Parents or persons in parental relation shall be notified at least one week prior to the drill.(2) Such drills shall test the usefulness of the communications and transportation system during emergencies.


(3) The provisions of section 175.5(a) of this Title regarding the length of school day for State aid purposes shall not apply to school days in which less than the minimum number of hours is conducted because of an early dismissal pursuant to this subdivision.(k) Reports by educational agencies. Except in a school district in a city having a population of more than one million inhabitants, the chief executive officer of each educational agency located within a public school district shall provide to the superintendent of schools information about school population, number of staff, transportation needs and the business and home telephone numbers of key officials of such educational agencies.(l) Nothing contained in subdivision (a) or (c) of this section shall prevent an educational agency from using, in part or in total, an emergency management plan previously developed in cooperation with a county or other municipality as the emergency management plan required in this section until the adoption of school safety plans as required by subdivision (b) of this section; provided, however, that all applicable requirements of this section shall be met.(m) Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee may order emergency response actions by individual school districts in the event that the local officials are unable or unwilling to take action deemed to be appropriate by State and/or county emergency personnel in accordance with county or State emergency preparedness plans or directives.

Historical Note Sec. filed Dec. 23, 1997; renum. 155.21, new added by renum. 155.13, filed Sept. 21, 1999; amds. filed: Nov. 14, 2000 as emergency measure; Feb. 9, 2001 as emergency measure; March 23, 2001 as emergency measure; April 27, 2001 eff. May 17, 2001.

Appendix 3: Education Law 408.b

Education Law 408.b*S 408-b Submitting plans and specifications of school buildings with local fire and law enforcement officials. The appropriate authorities for each public and private school building in the state shall submit the most current plans and specifications for each school building under their responsibility to the fire and law enforcement officials in the city, towns or village where the school building is located. The commissioner may adopt such rules and regulations as are necessary and appropriate to implement the provisions of this section to facilitate its purpose of providing quick and easy access to and passage through school buildings should it be necessary for fire or law enforcement reasons. Such regulations shall authorize submittal of simplified plans showing access and passage ways for older schools where original plans or blue prints may not exist or where the school authorities can justify a claim of hardship in meeting the requirements of this section.

*NB Effective March 19, 2001

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